Taking a Charge

This weekend I am going to spend some time watching the NBA playoffs on TV. Some might say too much time, but that would just be an opinion, not a fact. I'm not alone in having this weekend plan in my state.

Perhaps that is one reason that I was inspired to write "Taking a Charge" for the Oklahoma Bar Journal this week. The column is not mainly about basketball, but refers to the fact that lawyers so often have to "take a charge" and absorb punishment on behalf of their client. It could be the lawyer defending a high profile client where the community is already convinced of guilt or any number of difficult things that happen in contested family law matters. It may be that a client has disregarded the lawyer's directions and now the lawyer is forced to take the heat for it. Over time taking all of this stress can have very negative consequences for the lawyer, including stress-related illnesses or burnout.

You cannot take care of your family and clients if you do not take care of yourself. I hope you download and enjoy this column. Try to take care of yourself. It is OK to take some time off to watch some hoops--or do whatever it is you enjoy. Download TakingACharge.Calloway.oklabarj

Some Great Work/Life Balance Resources

Work/life balance is an issue for many these days. It is not just an issue for lawyers, although the challenge tends to be felt acutely by many in the legal profession. Last week the Oklahoma Bar Association ran a series of work/life balance features on its web page. We have collected all of those features in a Work/Life Balance Week Recap online. We have also added a short, thoughtful video by Travis Pickens, the Oklahoma Bar Ethics Counsel. Maybe Travis has a career ahead in film some day. Check out our resources and share the link with others.

Tech Toys for the Holidays - 2011 Edition

Well, it is the holiday season and with Black Friday quickly approaching, you will certainly want to listen to the 49th edition of the Digital Edge podcast, our annual Tech Toys for the Holidays Edition. Sharon Nelson and I have our usual assortment of the cool and practical high tech gifts, along with a few that are wild and wacky. (You would probably have to have settled a pretty big case this year to bid on the DeLorean Time Machine or justify buying a Robomower, but there are many low cost items featured.) The show notes provide links to all of the products mentioned.

As Sharon and I make our own holiday arrangements, we are gearing up to produce the 50th Edition of the Digital Edge podcast, Lawyers and Technology. Who knew? 

And while we are discussing online gift guides, our friend and colleague, Reid Trautz has just published his 2011 Holiday Gift Guide for Lawyers. Reid's guide is not limited to technology toys and this year even includes some new ideas in liquid refreshments. Cheers.... I mean Happy Holidays!

Moving to a Virtual Practice Model – Do You Have the Right Stuff?

The September/October issue of the ABA Law Practice Magazine covers virtual law practices. I was the guest editor for this issue of the magazine and wrote the story Moving to a Virtual Practice Model – Do You Have the Right Stuff? I won't recapitulate the entire article here, other than to say my conclusion is "it depends." But I have no doubt this business model will prove very attractive to some.

I appreciate all of those who contributed to this issue of the magazine. There is a lot of great content here from a lot of experts. The features include:

The Next Five Years – Predictions for the Future of eLawyering By Richard S. Granat and Marc Lauritsen

Watch Where You Set Your Virtual Foot – Advice on Dealing with Varying State Rules By Daniel J. Siegel

The Untethered Law Office – Tools and Tips for Getting It Done By Jay S. Fleischman

Using Online Service Providers – Where the Duty of Confidentiality Reigns By Kathryn A. Thompson (research counsel for ETHICSearch, a service of the American Bar Association Center for Professional Responsibility.)

Leading the Virtual Firm By Karen Mackay

Popular Cloud Computing Services for Lawyers: Practice Management Online By Stephanie L. Kimbro and Tom Mighell  (Stephanie's blog VirtualLawPractice.org is a great resources on this topic.)

And there is a related article: Marketing Alternative Fee Arrangements By Mark A. Robertson

There are other greeat columns and articles in this magazine. I hope it can serve as a resource for some of you interested in learning more about virtual law practices.

Your Future as a Lawyer

Thinking about your future can bring forth many emotions, especially if the future looks challenging and uncertain. That's why it may be easy for time-challenged lawyers to avoid the exercise. If you are going to retire in the next few years, skip this blog post. Otherwise, invest thirty minutes this week reading the articles I have linked here. If you need inspiration to think about this, just start with the following feature story from the July 2011 ABA Journal Law Job Stagnation May Have Started Before the Recession—And It May Be a Sign of Lasting Change. Quite a few observers of the legal industry have drawn some of the same conclusions. Just to make certain you click on the link to the story, here's the "money quote" from the article:

• "For most lawyers, survival will depend upon their ability to harness technology to deliver greater value to clients at a cost that declines—yes, declines—over time. The biggest challenge for law firms will be transitioning away from internal firm metrics that reward billable hours and discourage or prohibit the crucial trial-and-error experimentation needed to create, refine and market more innovative work processes that do more with less." Id.

So go read the article to see how the authors reached that conclusion.

But the future brings promise as well as challenges. Maybe none of us will see that future where one can make a living as a "Space Lawyer," but it is not hard to see new and emerging areas of law practice.

But a good opportunity to chart your future appears this month in another ABA publication, the "Careers" issue of Law Practice magazine (July/August 2011.) The Time to Take a Leap feature begins with an important story by a good friend of mine. Lawyers Join the Free Agent Nation by Stephen P. Gallagher charts how career paths have changed for lawyers just as the idea of life-long employment with a single company has changed for the majority of the American work force. The is followed by 10 Steps to Prepare Yourself for a Graceful Launch by John H. Snyder. Although this is written for a hypothetical associate about to leave the big firm, it is good reading for anyone taking stock of your career. The feature then focuses on several lawyers and their successful career changes.

But, wait, you might say, "I really am my law practice at  this point and there's really nowhere to leap." (Joke in poor taste omitted.)  It is certainly true that for many lawyers, from solo/small firm lawyers to partners in larger law frims that they could change their address or their partners, but the clients that they serve are their law practice. Absent taking a salaried job and shuttering a private practice, they may feel  certain that they are not looking at career change.

As suggested by the ABA Journal article on stagnation, you may have the choice of reinventing your practice or watching while others reinvent it for you. So continue your tour of the Careers edition of Law Practice magazine by reading Make the Right Move: Career Assessment Tools by Wendy L. Werner for some ideas on learning about yourself, Optimizing Your Online Shingle: On-Page and Off-Page Best Practices by Bob Ambrogi and Steve Matthews and enjoy the fun of Sharon Nelson and John Simek discussing using an iPad in your law practice. In the Ask Bill column, Bill Gibson talks with me and Tom Mighell about social media for lawyers.

Whether you are a new lawyer or law student entering the job market, who should read the entire Careers edition of Law Practice magazine or you want to pick and choose, there's a lot in Law Practice magazine, this month and every month and I'd say that even if I wasn't on the magazine's editorial board.

24 Favorite Websites from the Digital Edge Podcast

ABA TECHSHOW 2011 closed with a large crowd in attendance for 60 Sites in 60 Minutes. Jim Calloway and Sharon Nelson joined colleagues ABA TECHSHOW 2010 chair Paul Unger and TECHSHOW planning board member Erik Mazzone for this lively presentation. Jim and Sharon just couldn’t get enough of talking about interesting and fun websites for lawyers so we decided to discuss some of the websites here, beginning with a “missing site” that was mysteriously omitted from the original 60 Sites presentation.

Listen to the 24 Favorite Sites Digital Edge podcast here with links to sites. We started with the missing site, which someone who provides too much tech support for their family and friends will really enjoy!

And by the way, Mark Unger over at the State Bar of Texas Computer and Technology Section blog, gave 60 sites in 60 Minutes a truly great review here. So thanks, Mark.

Deep Thoughts on the Future of Law Practice

There was a great symposium in recent days on the future of law practice. Didn't you get your invitation? Well, that is because it just happened online without apparent advance planning or coordination.  While I was attending my son's high school basketball banquet last night, Jordan Furlong was writing the blog post I intended to write about this. He published his post The Stratified Legal Market and its Implications this morning. While I could feel "scooped," I primarily feel like Jordan saved me an hour or so and probably created a finer product. Here's his lead:

"An extraordinary conversation has emerged among multiple authors in the blawgosphere over the past few days. It revolves around a pressing question: in light of the huge changes in the marketplace, what will become of law firms? ... No fewer than seven articles by six writers have explored this subject so far, and I recommend you take 10-15 minutes and go read these pieces."

Please take the time to read Jordan's post. My criticism is that Jordan must be a speed reader if he thinks anyone can find, read and digest all of those fine posts in 10-15 minutes.

Well, actually, I have another criticism  of Jordan. He failed to note that this week also saw the release of the Digital Edge: Lawyers and Technology podcast 41st Edition where Sharon Nelson and Jim Calloway "discuss a number of trends that impact the future of the legal profession. They outline several challenges and then give strategies and tips for dealing with these challenges. As Yogi Berra once said, 'The future ain't what it used to be.' A resource list is included in the show notes." The podcast and show notes home page is here.  (Note: Those of you who usually get the podcast on iTunes may not be able to due to the aftermath of the launch of the new ABA website. So visit the link instead.)

Of course, this was recorded before any of the articles noted above were posted. It is very interesting how many people are thinking similar things at about the same time.

I have put together an Oklahoma Bar CLE on this topic that many of you may find of interest. It is called Supercharge Your Law Practice and will be held May 18, 2011 in Oklahoma City and May 19th in Tulsa. But everyone reading this post is invited to attend via the live webcast on May 18. Put it on your calendar now. You can always register for a webcast at the last minute. (Although you should just register now. We know what happens to those open days on a lawyer's calendar.)  Webcast info.

I have been thinking about this program for a long time and then I met a solo practitioner from  Guthrie, Oklahoma, Tim Green, who has given me some great insight into designing law office production systems. I am so glad Tim has offered to share his knowledge with all of you. We're going to go in depth on systems, methods and tools.

So, read the articles noted about, listen to the podcast and enroll in our OBA CLE. Don't let the future sneak up on your practice and your livelihood.

The most important thing in your office

Sometimes it is easy to forget that the most important thing in your office is you!  (Well, you and all the other living, breathing people in your workplace.) Hopefully this "thing" is also important to others outside of work as well.

So your attention is directed to a pair of really nice blog posts.

A Recipe for Law Firm Innovation in 2011 by Allison Wolf was posted this week on slaw. You have heard some of this before, but her Fact and Practice format is very easy to read. I promise you that even if you do not benefit from this personally, then you will instantly think of a lawyer or loved one to whom  you wish to send the link.

Attention Divided: Avoid Multi-Tasking by Beverly Michaelis, Practice Management Advisor for the Oregon Professional Liability Fund hones in on another issue that impacts most all office workers. Regardless of whether the scientists say it is possible or not, we all multi-task or attempt to multi-task sometimes. There are some good thoughts and pointers here.

The Dark Side of Technology

I'm one of those who believes that almost every lawyer in private practice should have a smart phone. There are simply too many time-saving tools and techniques available via a smart phone that can be useful to the time-challenged lawyer. But I'm not unmindful of the dangers of overuse of smart phones and other technology. There are certainly some addictive aspects to technology--particularly mobile technology.

We've heard of many dangers, such as texting while driving or the time wasted in pointless online activities. But many have pointed out more subtle dangers such as an increase in shallow thinking with no time for deep thinking, reflection and analysis. We all find that we are often interrupted by technology whether it is the ringing mobile phone or the feeling that maybe we should check out e-mail because something important might have come in during the the last fifteen minutes. And we've all felt a little slighted when we were discussing something important with someone in person and they suddenly had to grab their phone because an e-mail or text came in.

Access to information is important. But mere information is not knowledge. Information and knowledge are still not synonymous with wisdom.

I'd like to recommend a television show to you if you have not seen it. "Crackberry'd: The Truth About Information Overload" was shown on CNBC this morning and will be repeated Friday, January 28, 2011 at 9:00 p.m. CST. There is a lot of important information there for high school and college students as well as people in business. Set your DVR to record this one and watch it with your family. Maybe you can discuss it afterwards.

The documentary has a Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/DigitalDummies). Here's another resource: The 13 Steps to Breaking a CrackBerry Addiction.

I encourage all lawyers to think about how much time they allow themselves to deeply focus on the work. It seems like a good time management tool to check e-mail while waiting for a dentist appointment. But I have concluded that the same thing is not a good idea when waiting to take a deposition. Then you need to be focusing on the task ahead and not run the risk of being distracted by an e-mail on an entirely different matter.

Reviewing 2010 Should Make Lawyers Think About the Future

While doing my annual review of the year in law office management and technology, my focus kept returning to the numerous predictions of challenging change ahead for lawyers. Some of these trends are already apparent and others are coming into focus. For my column in the December 2010 Oklahoma Bar Journal, I decided to discuss some of these trends and provide some resources to lawyers as they contemplate the future. I hope you appreciate my column titled Reviewing 2010 Should Make Lawyers Think About the Future. Download Calloway Reviewing 2010 and the Future